The Shadowed Ones
by newword
Summary: As Ovan searches for the lost legacy of Harald Hoerwick, strange events start to unfold. Haunted by nightmares Kite and others begin to investigate the events unfolding in The World R:2. Begins near the end of Redemption.
1. prologue

Dot hack, the Epitaph of Twilight and related media are owned by Bandai and CyberConnect2. I claim no ownership.

Greetings, this is the Prologue of my work dedicated too dot hack. It had many inspirations including passages the epitaph. It starts right after Ovan uses the Rebirth. From there it diverges from cannon. Please review and feel free to post constructive criticism. Thank you.

P.S. I am also looking for a beta reader

Prologue: Twilight of the New Gods

****SYSTEM ERROR****

****SYSTEM ERROR****

****SYSTEM ERROR****

****SYSTEM ERROR****

****SYSTEM ERROR****

**Reinitializing….**

** The World R:2**

A dazzling twilight dream

**Unknown data stream**

_Is this…death? _

The man called Masato Indou or Ovan in The World contemplated his current predicament. He was unsure what to expect when he activated the rebirth, but he had guessed that he would ether become a lost one, or simply die. After all he had done he couldn't really complain either way.

…_No._

As Ovan regained his senses it seemed like he was surrounded by static. The sound and sight was like an old broken TV set much like what one would have seen at the beginning of the twenty first century. As this began to fade away he could see a green field of grass with a white sky, or perhaps there was simply no background at all. In center screen was a bed and two figures clothed in white standing in front of it. The smaller of the two raised her hand in greeting.

"Hey crazy guy".

Ovan looked down at the small blond girl who called him crazy. The older figure stepped forward, dismissing the child.

"Zefie, go play with your toys for now".

"hmm okay". The girl gave a slight bow "bye crazy guy". She then ran off to the other side of the field.

"This is quite unexpected". Ovan spoke. "Are you the one that saved me…Aura?"

"Do not misunderstand; it was only because you too are a child of Morganna like me".

Silently he nodded and asked "…and the lost ones?"

Aura approached the steam gunner. "They will return with time. The real question is, what shall you do?"

The light reflected in Ovan's glasses and he smiled. "I shall continue my research where I left off".

"Even after all it has cost?"

Ovan looked down slightly, as if talking to himself as much as to Aura.

"While Aida latching on to me was unfortunate, Aida itself was an inevitability brought on by the network. If it hadn't been me it would have been someone else".

"Is that so?" Asked Aura. Breathing out she continued, "You remind me of my father".

"Thank you"

Aura's eyes narrowed "That was not a compliment. While I am grateful to my father for creating me, he was most certainly a mad man".

"Sometimes only a mad man can move history forward".

Aura sighed. "There was another who tried to do this, he went insane and nearly destroyed This World".

"And yet you will still allow me to go forward?" He questioned.

"I believe people should be able to choose their own destiny… If you wish to pursue my father's legacy I will not stop you, but be warned that there are those who will move against you".

"I see." Ovan looked down at himself. His pc was in perfect order and his arm was now free from tri-edge. "If I am correct my human body is in a coma right now. Tell me, can I leave this place?"

"You are free to do as you wish, however you're movement will be limited to back channels for sometime".

"Then, thank you". Ovan Turned and started to walk away

"If you're truly thankful, then keep in mind the safety of others." Aura called back.

Ovan stopped and turned his head back, smiling. "Always". He then walked into the distance and disappeared.

Aura stood by herself. Turning back toward her daughter she sighed. "It seems my rest is over."

What is it that Ovan is looking for, and what role will Aura be playing? Find out more in Chapter one


	2. Shadows of the Past

Dot hack, the Epitaph of Twilight and related media are owned by Bandai and CyberConnect2. I claim no ownership.

Chapter One: Shadows of the Past

**Real World, Tokyo **

**One week later**

Shinji Yoshiyuki awoke suddenly.

_Another bad dream_

For the last week Shinji had suffered from nightmares. It is of course not uncommon for people who have lived through traumatic experiences to relive them for the rest of their lives. Indeed ever since the events which have become collectively known as Pluto again, Shinji had experienced nightmares. Not a week goes by when he does not relive the day his friend Yasuhiko was data drained. But the nightmares he had this last week were different. They were like memories of things he had never done and people he had never seen. In one dream he fought a PC that resembled a scorpion with white hair. At the end of the fight he data drained the unknown figure. This was very disturbing as Shinji had never used data drain on another person. In another dream a man in sunglasses chopped him to little bits with a strange black arm. He had seen several versions of this dream, sometimes PC's that looked like Balmung and Yasuhiko's PC Orca were with him.

After the incident with Morganna, Shinji had continued to play The World for several years, though he stopped logging on as much during his high school years. After Aura disappeared he had stopped playing all together, though he still kept in contact with many of the friends he had made. He never even bothered to try The World R:2. He and Akira who played Black Rose started seeing each other a few months after Pluto Again. At first it was hard because she lived in Yokohama, but after she graduated high school she started attending college in Tokyo. Shinji was currently attending that same college, Tokyo University where he studied computer programming. Akira studied phys ed with an eye toward a professional tennis career. She was already well known on the college circuit and was entering some professional events in the coming year. They were still seeing each other and had recently started renting an apartment together. Their parents were on them to just get married but both of them had decided to wait until they both finished college.

_What is with these dreams? They all seem so real. I wonder if-_

"Another bad dream Shinji?" apparently he had woken Akira who was now sitting up in bed looking at him with some concern.

"Yeah, sorry I woke you again". It was already seven so he proceeded to get up and dress.

"Its no problem, you're probably just under a lot of stress".

"heh you say that, but you're working far harder than I am Akira. Training every morning like you are".

As they sat and ate breakfast Shinji decided to tell Akira what he had been thinking since yesterday.

"I'm thinking of trying out The World R:2".

Akira stopped eating. "Whaaat? whats brought this on?"

"Well ever since that network crash I've been dreaming about The World. I can't help but think there is some connection."

Akira sighed. "Shinji, I have nightmares about what happened back then too, its just stress".

"But these dreams aren't like anything that happened back then. They aren't anything like the other nightmares I've had the last seven years, and they all started the very night of the network crash".

Akira continued eating, not looking up. "Do you think you have time for something like an online game?"

"The semester ends after this week; I'll have some time to blow".

"Well, do what you feel like you have too".

**Raven Home**

**The Serpent of Lore**

"I was afraid of this".

For the past week Yata had been monitoring a strange data that seemed to get larger and larger by the minute. It had already spread throughout all the servers and even onto the network itself.

Pi stopped her work and asked "what is it Yata-sama?"

"Cubia".

Pi stopped what she was doing and stared

"you don't mean?"

"It was your brother who predicted that project G.U. might create a new cubia, but these concerns where ignored".

"But we haven't detected anything before that-"

"Yes before a week ago we had never detected something like this in The World R:2. I believe it was created as a result of last weeks incident". Yata explained.

Pi did her best to regain her usual composure. She pretended to straighten her glasses. "What will we do?"

"For now we will monitor it, also contact Zelkova, we should make arrangements with him in case something unfortunate were to happen."

"Yes Yata-sama". Pi began to write a mail to the leader of moon tree. In the mean time Yata continued to think to himself.

_I can't tell if it is related, but there seems to be an excess amount of data in the system that even Cubia can't account for. There is no time to pursue it now, but it's worth keeping an eye on._

**The Real World, Tokyo**

On his way back from exams Shinji bought a copy of The World and the from a store on the way home. Once he got into his apartment he immediately installed it. Before he logged on he decided it would be best too look for information on the World R:2. As he searched the most popular fan sites and forums it seemed that there was indeed much to worry about. Rumors of PK's who could send you into a coma, people with strange abilities not in the specs, Someone called "The Terror of Death" running around making a name for himself, Strange events at the lost grounds.

_Ok Shinji, calm down. _He thought to himself. He new that rumors about coma's were nothing new to the world. Even after Pluto again these sorts of things persisted. He and the others had investigated them and found no basis for the rumors, and their had always been hackers who played with their PC's, but to do it so openly and not risk deletion was something only a hacker near Helba's level could achieve. There just couldn't be that many people that good or with those kinds of connections.

_I wonder if she's still around?_ He had lost contact with her a long time ago. Before he left the CCcorp Balmung had told him that she disappeared soon after Aura did, but maybe with all of this she might be back.

"Wow you've already bought it?"

"Huh?" He looked up. It seemed he was so engrossed in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed Akira come in.

"Just notice me?"

"Heh, sorry bout that. I've been reading the BBS and it seems like some weird stuff is going on".

Akira felt curious. "Oh yeah? Like what?"

******

As they ate dinner Shinji described what he had been reading.

"Wow" Akira said in-between bites "are you sure its that serious?"

"Well not completely" Shinji admitted, "but theirs no way of knowing without logging on. Plus I have to admit reading the bbs has got me interested in the game itself" He grinned.

"Ok then, I'm in". Akira stated.

"What?"

"I said I'm in!" She continued in a huff. "I'm not going to leave you without support, besides I have to keep an eye on you. Doesn't that stalker Natsume still play?"

"Come on Akira, she isn't a stalker, she's just…enthusiastic".

"Enthusiastic huh?" she narrowed her eyes. "Is that why she moved all the way to Tokyo

"Come on, Tokyo U is a great school, people from all over the country come here".

"Whatever, I'm sure you'll drag her and anyone else you meet into this as well".

Shinji smiled and put his hand behind his head. "Come on, I'm not that bad, am I?"

Silence…

**Tokyo, CCcorp Japanese headquarters **

It was fate. Yes, thought Saitou Miyamoto it must have been fate that brought him here today. The entire week he had been having strange dreams involving The World and his old friends Orca and Kite. Then, out of the blue an email came from CCcorp requesting his presence.

After the deletion of The World R:1 Saitou had been laid off. Unofficially however, he heard that he had been dismissed because of complaints from higher up that his events were "In bad taste".

_Bad taste? Me? Ridiculous_.

Saitou had recently learned that his old friend Wiseman had come into possession of a large amount of CCcorp stock.

_He must have gotten me my old job back, that must be it_!

Since he was laid off Saitou had been making due as a freelance programmer. He specialized in security. It seems years of railing against and then working with hackers had taught him a great bit about their trade secrets. Unfortunately he had few contacts outside CCcorp and with no formal education in programming it had been hard to find work, but now those days were over. Saitou walked confidently through CCcorp's hallways, earning the stares of passers by. He walked up to room E408 and firmly knocked on the door.

"Come in".

Opening the door he found himself face to face with the last man he expected.

"Hiroshi-san?"

"Ah, my old friend you remembered me!" The head of graphics design for The World R:2, Hiroshi Matsuyama got up from his desk and extended his hand.

"Ah yes its good to see you" the confused Saitou shook hands and sat down.

"Saitou" said Hiroshi, suddenly serious.

_No -San?_

"The World needs your skill!"

"Hmm?" Saitou perked up. He still cared deeply about the world even after all this time away from it.

"A mysterious player has been attacking the world, scarring it!"

Saitou got even more excited. _Is this the return of Balmung of the Azure Sky?_

"And now I need your programming skills to fix them!"

_What?_

Hiroshi continued unaware of his friends mood swings "For all my skill with graphics, I have been unable to remove those horrible scars and now I need a programmer to help me repair The World's graphics and create a security program so it never happens again!"

"Wait what do you mean scars Hiroshi-san?"

"For some reason I can't get any programmer in the company to work with me on this". Hiroshi continued, having not heard Saitou's question over his own speech. "So I'm reaching into my division's own budget to hire a programmer and my fellow dot hacker Saitou Miyamoto!"

_What have I gotten my self into?_

Hiroshi opened a drawer and pulled out a piece of paper, putting it in front of Saitou "As for your compensation, I hope this figure will suffice".

The programmer examined the paper in front of him _5 million yen!?_

"I know it is but small compensation but it is all I we can afford. I hope it will be enough".

Saitou smiled "you can rest assured; I will do all I can".

"Ha ha ha! Excellent! I knew I could count on you!"

_Heh, I won't have to work again for a year. _

_**************  
_

Its time for…. Teach us Piros the 3rd!

Starring..

"Natsume"

And,

"I, the wingless eagle! The slow Doberman, Piros the 3rd!"

"Ok Piros , our first question today is who is Kite named after?"

"Who can tell? Maybe if you do some digging you can figure it out yourself!"

"our next question is: how did someone like you become a dot hacker?"

"Of course when he of fair eyes began looking for party members, who else would he turn to but the great hero; Piros the Silver White?"

"Finally, a question from the author: I see Kite and Balmung what where is Orca?"

"Ah! Orca of the Azure Sea! A hero of The World much like myself! Alas, it seams he is always a step behind his two Azure friends…"

"Well there you have it folks, keep watching for the next episode of "Teach us Piros the 3rd!"

As legends return to The World, where will fate lead them? Please watch for the next chapter: Cubia the Concealed


End file.
